Valve lash

[Coyote Chris]

I had a Yamaha 650 Seca, 1982 for many years, with a Vetter Quicksilver fairing.

It was a great bike with shaft drive and Tubeless tires. Like the NT, it wasnt a big seller.

Retrospective: Yamaha XJ650RJ Seca 650: 1982 | Rider Magazine

Some people say that the Golden Era of Japanese motorcycles was in the early 1980s, when everything seemed to come together—engine, chassis and price. The

ridermagazine.com

But one thing it did have was shim over bucket valve lash. Yamaha sold a small cheep tool that would compress the bucket and it was child's play to take out the big shim and put in another. I think I changed one shim in all the years I had it.
I then assumed that most bikes (and cars) after this had shim under bucket for a fear that the shim would skip out of the top of the bucket during high rpms.
Fast forward to today.
On my Subaru Outback forum, we are discussing the new Gen 7 2026 Outback. One of which we have. One youtube tester said the car had shims. But there is no check interval in the owners manual for the 2.5 l. 4 cycl. Just like the Ford Eco-boast engines. Curious, I asked the forum about this. One guy said no one has reported any issues with the shims but produced a youtube vid of some guy replacing a shim on an early 21st century Subaru that obviously had shim over bucket valve lash. After much searching, it would appear that the 2025 crosstrek we have as well as the 2026 Outback have series FB25D (for direct injection) engines, that use a type of shim over bucket system, where the cam doesnt have to be removed.
Is this common in the automotive world?
People still seem to agree that some sort of intake valve cleaning isnt a bad idea from time to time with direct injection motors.

 

[Billo]

Like the NT, it wasnt a big seller.

I bought my NT May 3rd ( nine months ago! ) and still waiting for my first in-the-wild sighting. San Diego isn’t exactly a small town either.

 

[Coyote Chris]

I bought my NT May 3rd ( nine months ago! ) and still waiting for my first in-the-wild sighting. San Diego isn’t exactly a small town either.

I love San Diego. I spend a few days there before every cruise. I like to sit outside and watch life go by and I see motorcycles as I do everywhere but seeing an NT is a rarity. The bike appealed to people who are more practical. Once you got the big lids and a luggage rack, it could carry lots of stuff and other than wanting to take a nap at slow speeds (top heavy) it really didnt have any bad habits. Fast it was not. Silk smooth it was not. Stable at slow speeds it was not, but it was a jack of all trades, master of none.

 

[Chucksklrst]

I did almost 35k miles on mine in 4 years. Rode it out east to our get together at Pigeon Forge and all over the Western States. Never had an issue with it. Yes the large lids were a must for interstate travel. Bike did fine but one had to plan their passing maneuvers unlike my ST1300 that shared a garage with my NT700. The NT 700 was not a speed demon but it did hold its own. Sold it to my neighbor when I went to a FJR1300. Yes the NT700 and now the NT1100 are as rare as hens teeth now days.

 

[Billo]

as rare as hens teeth now days

and that's a shame. U.S. Honda has the stripped down (no bags) 1100 here for a great price, facing a soft market headwind. A suspension upgrade (sorely needed for, ah, enthusiastic riders) is costly. The DCT automatic stigma is exactly the same as the shift (ha!) from stick to automatic in the 60's car generation. Didn't want to, refused to, would never, finally tried it, never going back! Manual clutch is slightly better for racing, the DCT much better (more fun!) 99% of the time.

 

[Coyote Chris]

I did almost 35k miles on mine in 4 years. Rode it out east to our get together at Pigeon Forge and all over the Western States. Never had an issue with it. Yes the large lids were a must for interstate travel. Bike did fine but one had to plan their passing maneuvers unlike my ST1300 that shared a garage with my NT700. The NT 700 was not a speed demon but it did hold its own. Sold it to my neighbor when I went to a FJR1300. Yes the NT700 and now the NT1100 are as rare as hens teeth now days.

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View attachment 23668

The large lids were a must for ANYTHING. When I saw my first one at the Honda Pavillion at Oshkosh, I was amazed/saddened about the lid size. The front minimul roll bar was nice but the rear needed big lids to be the practical bike it was. As well as minimul roll bars in the rear. It is interesting that some of the police versions of the NT used big lids and some small lids. As for power, cruising into a head wind at near 80 mph ground speed could use up about all the throttle. Unless you downshifted. But in the end, the small lids led me to this forum.

 

[Coyote Chris]

and that's a shame. U.S. Honda has the stripped down (no bags) 1100 here for a great price, facing a soft market headwind. A suspension upgrade (sorely needed for, ah, enthusiastic riders) is costly. The DCT automatic stigma is exactly the same as the shift (ha!) from stick to automatic in the 60's car generation. Didn't want to, refused to, would never, finally tried it, never going back! Manual clutch is slightly better for racing, the DCT much better (more fun!) 99% of the time.

My cars are now, save one, all CVTs. When you get old, you think about how driving would be if you temperarily lost the use of one of your limbs, due to knee issues, shoulder surgeries, etc. All my cars through my life till 2018 were sticks. Never replaced a clutch. We had one defective standard tranny from the factory. I am still glad all my bikes are standard. Most automatics are pretty reliable for the first 100,000 miles. I thought my new 2025 Subaru crosstrek had lunched its tranny when I found out I had actually pushed the sport mode button. Others tell me when they switch to X mode for mud and snow and rocks, the tranny emits some amazing noises as the computer is controling each wheel.